Sailing in the Ionian

Not strictly the adventures of Daislebee, but certainly that of her skipper, who has temporarily gone to the dark side and went sailing in the Ionian. I had suggested the idea of a weeks sailing, just the two of us, my wife Caroline and I , and was most surprised when she agreed. She is not a keen sailor...but before she could change her mind it was booked and paid for....

Our home for a week

We arrived on Sunday 1st July with a quick and easy flight from Heathrow to Preveza that landed us in hot sunny weather , jut like we had left at home.... A air conditioned 40 minute trip round to Vilcho and we were the signing the papers and having a very efficient tour of the boat, a Bravaria 33.

The yacht was clean and tidy and had a excellent welcome pack that did us well over the next few days. Equipped with a dinghy and outboard as standard, this was a step up from previous charters where every little extra cost more....Sail Ionian had got off to a good start.

We were signed sealed and delivered by about 16.30 and set off for our first night's destination Spartakhori, on the north west top of Meganisis

Coach trip in orange - sail trip in blue

Leaving Vilcho - crew at the helm

Spartakhori is a lovely inlet, shelter from most directions with a pontoon laid on by the Porta Spilia taverna that allows mooring on both sides.  Although we were bare boat chartering, there was also an 'assisted flotilla'  which is slightly less formal than a conventional flotilla allowing more flexibility. We joined them for the night and having met Sean and his wife, an ex Inspector for Dorset, we decided to tag along with the assisted group the next day as well.

The meal at Porta Spilia was fine, nothing to shout about, but for a first night, tired and hungry, very welcome.

It was our first experience of mooring using a floating line from the quay and we had arranged some practice in the morning, but as it happened it went so well we cancelled.

(For those of you unfamiliar with this type of mooring it involves reversing up to the quay and passing both stern lines to a helping hand. You need to stop the boat before reaching the quay - three feet or so out and take back both lines tying them off and then motoring against them. Meanwhile another helping hand passes the crew a line that is tied to the quay but sinks as it runs out into the harbour to a strong fixing of some sort. The crew walks to the bow with the line and takes it in through the appropriate fair lead. The trick is then to pull as if you are pulling up the anchor until the line is tight - it helps to slacken the stern lines a few feet...make fast the tight floating or lazy line and then use the engine to take up the tension, tightening the stern lines so you balance the boat off the quay at a distance that enables your boarding ladder to be deployed.)

Pontoon at Spartakhori

The meal at the taverna was ok but we regretted not think of mosquito spray as sat at a table on the beach we soon became supper for the marinading mossies - I'd recommend having something from the grill as opposed to something that had been cooked and sat there waiting. We also made the mistake of ordering starters as sides dishes to the main course --any idea how many chillies you get as a starter course...dozens...and dozens.... lesson learned.

Monday

We had decided to go to Sivota which is on the southern end of Levkas and it turned out the assisted flotilla was going there as well so we would have help with the lines but we sailed, or rather motored northwards to start with to spend sometime in Ormos Varko, about 5 miles away . It is a wide open bay with an island plumb in the centre of the entrance.It is sand here and the water is lovely and clear, ideal for swimming.

Route to Varko

Ormos Varko

We did sail most of the way and anchored in about 3 meters and settled down to enjoy a swim, lunch, and more swimming- with a temperature of over 30 degrees the water was wonderful.

Later we set off to join the gang at Sivota - the great thing being we knew there would be a space for us...one of the benefits of the assisted approach.

Route to Sivota

On the way we passed the islands of Skorpios and Skorpidhi which used t be owned by the Onassis family but now apparently are owned by a Russian who discourages visitors with burly security guards.

Sivota is a lovely harbour, unseen from the sea it is set back in a deep and thin inlet safe from the prevailing winds. We reversed back onto a lazy line and were soon tied up at the quay, directly outside the favoured taverna.

Entering Sivota

Harbour at Sivota

We went for a wander around the harbour, resisting the administrations of the tavernas dotted around the quay trying to entice us in..all of them looked good but thirst was the issue, not hunger. Having found a bar and downed several ice cold beers we returned to the taverna we were moored against and after a wait, eased with more beer we went upstairs to the roof terrace. Service was slow but that didn't worry us ..where were we going.... but we received a free carafe of house white to ease the pain..which it did admirably.


Tuesday

Unfortunately something from the meal didn't agree with Caroline and she was confined to her berth the next day, which then posed a bit of a problem but having had breakfast and waited fir the fleet to leave, I slipped the mooring with no difficulty and set sail for our planned lunch time destination of  Arkoudhi, a small island between us and Ithaca were I wanted to get to for the evening.

The wind was great and I ended up reefing in keep the boat reasonably level for passenger comfort but still had a cracking sail.

I abandoned plans for a lunch stop and the crew was still comatose in their bunk and pressed on for Kioni on the island of Ithaca.

Route to Kioni

I had one moment of panic as, doing 7 knots, the depth sounder suddenly read 2 m....in the middle of the sea...I discovered that over 200 m it flickers between 2 and 3 m,..the chart re assured me we were in over 300 m of water...

Entering Kioni

The other event was seeing something like a sword fish, long, sleek and with a very point snout, repeatedly leaping out of the water just off the starboard bow.

Kioni was rammed, even early afternoon, so I attempted anchoring on the southern side with out success and moved over to a spot just inside the entrance where, with a fortuitous wind I was able to take a line to a rock on the shore and as the boat blew round secure it to the winch. Back on board I was able to tension the line so we lay stern to the rocks.

There was some drama that afternoon as I watch a lady with a young child paddle board past me out to sea, followed  by a young girl on her paddle board.

Possibly the way to travel....

I did wonder, as the wind was starting to get up and inflatable paddle boards don't have much directional stability..sure enough 10 minutes later a powerful rib tears out of the harbour and returns awhile later towing he boards behind with the Mun and child and young girl sitting in the boat...all's well that ends well.....

The wind got up so much that it became uncomfortable where we were so I recovered the lines and the crew who was feeling almost human by now raised the anchor.

We ventured into the harbour proper, with out much hope but to our surprise a dinghy moved out of the way and revealed a spot ideal for us, so we reversed in and made snug for the night.

On a long line - as they disappear out to sea......

Our snug berth 

View from the town

After a good meal, Caroline had got her appetite back, we retired to listen to the cheers and roars as the England world cup match ebbed and flowed...successfully at it turned out.


Wednesday

We decided to get in early at our next harbour and spend time swiping and looking around, so we set off after breakfast for the island of Atoko and the famous One House Bay en route to Kastos for the night.

We had a good sail over with the wind rising until we reached the lee of Atoko. One House Bay was a popular anchorage with turquoise  clear water and spectacular cliffs.

Route to Kastos via Atokos

One House Bay

 We didn't stay long..the beauty of the place marred by the number of boats jostling for position.

One boat however did stand out from the crowd. A huge blue British flag yacht nosed it the bay and anchored with precision making all the other 30, 40 and even 50 ft yachts look very small in comparison. - the ensign was the same size as our main sail....

British yacht in One House Bay

We continued on to Kastos, making our way to the only harbour on the island which is located on the south eastern side.

We arrived mid to early afternoon and found the quay already crowded but the was room for us to squeeze between two boats, one friendly , one not so. In fairness we accidentally dropped our anchor and chain across his and on enquiring they had to plans to move early so there would no problem there. He pointed out that he had angled his to take into account the direction of the wind but another skipper pointed out that the wind was now coming from the angle we had laid on he went a little quiet. We made friends when he and his crew when they helped move a dinghy and shared a beer - universal currency.

The stern of our boat - on the quay at Kastos

The quay at Kastos

We walked round to the far side of the harbour and had a lovely swim, while I checked out the anchors - yes - crossed but not tangled so no problem tomorrow.

The main attraction of Kastos is the Windmill bar on the hill to the south of the harbour.

The Windmill Bar

Views from

Across the bay

After a drink here we wander down to a taverna just below the Windmill which had fantastic views. There were a number of South African boats in the harbour, which had filled with boats long lining to the beach and their crews seemed settled in for a big party.

 Kastos with the quay in the distance and boats long lined to the
 beach in the foreground

Thursday

The shorter sailing days appealed to Caroline, so we decided to take a short trip just around the corner to the next island, Kastos bigger relation Kalamos.

Again there is only the single harbour which effectively run by George, who is so well known that he even appears in the cruising pilot books.

route from Kastos to Kalamos

We headed north with little or no wind so the motor was on and threaded ourselves through the gap with the small island just north of Kastos.

The quay at Kalamos on arrival

The same quay later in the evening -
boats are also rafted up on the other side  (left of  picture)

George obviously keeps a good look out for approaching yachts and his white shirt and captains cap are easily visible as he waves to attract your attention. He directs yachts into suitable berths and assists with their lines, before introducing himself and pointing out his taverna at the end of the quay and all the benefits it has to offer. Later on as the harbour fills he can be seen racing around in his white motor boat, directing yachts and telling them where to drop their anchors..the bottom must be a real cats cradle - but amazingly the next morning there were very few crossed lines..and yes George is on hand to help...very proactive.

We walked up the hill to find the bakers - so hot..and steep but an interesting view and church.

The church at Kalamos

Typical street

Our boat on the quay - before the crowd arrived

We ate that night at Georges and had the best white snapper for a long time. Sat there enjoying the view I heard an then saw a familiar voice and face - James Wilder, who had joined us on the Morbihan adventure in 2017 was there with his family, on the second week with the same Sail Ionian as us.
He and I caught up over a few beers later that evening....enough said.



Friday

We needed to start heading homewards and although we were quite north in the Ionian we needed to move west so we selected Vathi  which is on the north east side of Meganisi - you need to be careful  there are several places called Vathi  in the Ionian - get the right one.

Route to Vathi

There was no wind again so, setting off quite late, we motored out of Kalamos and headed north round the top of the island.

The quay at Vathu

Looking out towards the sea

We crossed the bay and entered Vathi tying up at the quay at the far end of the harbour - apparently they charge 4 euros here but no one came and asked for money and there were no signs so perhaps not.

The road runs right behind the boats at the quay - not busy but it did feel starring having cars that close - it was worse at 05.00 am when the dust cart came to empty the bins - they are an intriguing design - a hydrolic pedal operated steel lid allows access to a shute for rubbish that runs below ground - very neat and tidy .....BUT..when they are emptied the whole arrangement is raised to ground level and the full bin slid out to be replaced by an empty one...as you can imaging not a silent operation.

That evening we ate at the Rose Garden, which is the far side of the square behind the quay, and had probably the best meal of the week.


Saturday

Our last day..and we decided to chill...we didn't have far to travel so popped out of Vathi and back east a couple of miles to a bay we had spotted on the way in the day before.

Route to bay

We spent a lovely day, swimming and relaxing in the quiet anchorage. The fish were quite happy to come close if you tempted them with bread.

Later that day we saw a drama unfold - I spotted a pillar of smoke some distance away and through the binoculars and saw a sizeable yacht with black smoke billowing from the cockpit - flames could soon be seen at the base of the smoke. The genoa was still up and the boat circled aimlessly for 20 - 30 minutes before the mast collapsed and eventually the smoke turned to white and dissipated.
I monitored Ch 16 but not a peep - other boats were in the vicinity of the yacht but there was no obvious rescue activity - compare that to the Solent where the radio would have been buzzing, Life boats, helicopters, the full monty - here is Greece ..not a lot.

When we set out for the bay where the base is we had a good sail over and a large patch of sea was oily and calm, in spite of the wind.

Route to the Bay

I had spoken to the base the day before and it appeared that the fleet was going to anchor on the eastern side of the bay overnight and use the tavernas there before crossing to the base on the western side the next morning. The wind was forecast NW so we headed to the eastern side and had a meal at one of the tavernas.

A quiet anchorage - then.......

As we ate the wind got up and we didn't linger, heading back to the boat quite early.

Back on the boat the wind steadily increased, to the point that I knew I'd be on anchor watch all night and Caroline wouldn't sleep at all. So we decided to go over to the base and see in there was room for us, or a buoy free for us to moor to.

As soon as the anchor was raised the wind increased dramatically - so much so that Caroline felt better staying at the bow. I couldn't leave the wheel to go the the VHF downstairs so I just headed for the base at Vilcho.

The boat was heeling as if she was sailing, with the force of the wind on the superstructure.

I got to the base and set about seeing how the boat would turn in the wind. The force of the wind was so strong that she just sat at 60 degrees to the wind with a lot of reverse engine revs. I thought that I could head up about the base and turn the other way and see how she lay then, but before i did a rib shot out from the Sail Ionian base and Otto pulled himself aboard.

Although we missed the first berth and nearly rammed the boats downwind of us, he managed to get her into a berth and I threw the lines to waiting hands. Two..yes two lazy lines and another line onto a winch and we were snug..but the wind just howled, spray and spume everywhere. The boats on the up wind side of the concrete pontoon had their engines at 3500 revs to keep off the jetty. The recorded wind on the jetty was 67 knots !!! just under 80 mph

It lasted until 12.30 and then like a light it was turned off and peace reigned..well I say peace - the festival that had been the reason for staying over the other side then started...delayed by the wind..and that went on til 04.00 ..not good.

Saturday

The day dawned as if the night before had never happened..and having cleared the boat we sat in the cool cafe until the coach arrived to take us home.

Reflections

A great company, very impressed. The boat was good, well equipped, everything worked . The staff very friendly and helpful and the Ionian - great play ground - certainty bears more exploration - would do it again but perhaps nearer to one end of the season or other...not over crowded but busy at times in the small harbours.

But would take or ensure I had a handheld VHF to supplement the main on in the cabin and mosquito spray